Next Special Friendship
by rpgfan100
Summary: Eiji Tomari thinks back to to the time he first met the Shift Cars Next and Special.


Next Special Friendship

When Eiji first meet Shift Next and Shift Special, it was the night of his 7th birthday. Eiji didn't really remember a lot about his early life, not only was he really young but his memory wasn't all that good, but he remembered that day. It was the day he first met his two best friends.

He was first introduced to them after his birthday party ended and all of his friends and the rest of his family were gone, the table still decorated with the presents that they gave him. As a young boy who loved cars just as much as his father, imagine his joy when, after a whistle from his father, two small cars drove, in mid air no less, into the room and into his hands. Needless to say, he was overjoyed.

His father began to speak to him after that. Despite his best efforts however, Eiji barely remember a word of what he said, something that he will forever blame on his poor memory.

What he did remember though, was that his father got Next and Special a long time ago from somebody very important to him and has been watching over them ever since. But today, he was passing on that responsibility to Eiji. He said that he knew Eiji probably wouldn't understand at the moment, but those two Shift Cars, as he called them, were destined to be with him.

Eiji would be lying if he said he wasn't a little disappointed with Next and Special at first. For tiny, floating cars with really cool names, they really didn't do all that much. Every time he thought back to that day, now a first year in high school, he prayed that he didn't neglect them.

Kids, not really knowing any better, often did mean things for stupid reasons. The thought of him neglecting the two beings that would eventually become his best friends made him sick to his stomach.

The earliest point in time that Eiji could remember beginning to think of the Shift Cars as more then disappointing toys was a one rainy day in September, not long after the start of the new school year. For whatever reason, he was teased really badly that day. So badly in fact that that he was running home with tears in his eyes.

His parents weren't home from work yet, meaning all he could do was throw himself onto his bed and cry his eyes out, the insults he received still fresh on his mind. He expected to spend the rest of the afternoon crying before running into his mother's arms when she returned that evening but, thankfully, something far more important happened on that day.

As he cried into his pillow, the sound loud enough to block out the noise of the rain, he was surprised when he felt a gentle tap on his hand. Looking up, thinking it was mother, he was surprised to see Special, for lack of better term, staring at him.

"What do you want?" was probably something along the lines he said to the little car. While he would never admit it, Eiji was kind of a cry baby. He was back then and he still is to this day. Whenever somebody he wasn't that close with found him crying though, he got really defensive.

Whenever it was somebody he was close to though, such as his mother, he wasn't afraid to hug them and let it all out, if they didn't mind anyway. He was also a bit of a mama's boy, another trait he still retained.

Special, of course, said nothing, not that he expect the car to talk or anything. He simply rolled around in circles on Eiji's pillow, making various sounds and noises,. While Eiji was confused at first, it quickly became clear that Special was trying to cheer him up when he saw Next pushing a box of tissues into the room.

Taking a tissue from the box, Eiji smiled as he held his hands out for Next and Special to enter them. "Thanks" he could remember saying to the two cars.

From that point onward, Eiji rarely went anywhere without both of the Shift Cars with him. Despite being barely big enough to fit in the palm of somebody's hand, they both had their own personalities and traits, making more than simply toys.

Next was something of a prankster and often played pranks on the rest of the family. It took Eiji months for him to snickering every time he thought of the time Next made an entire cake blow up in his father's face. Since they were preparing to leave for an important meeting, father and mother were less the thrilled about the prank.

Special on the other hand was a down to earth voice of reason, as best he could be anyway. While Eiji loved Next just as much as he loved Special, he couldn't deny the fact that Special was far more reliable when he need help with something and he was far more well behaved, meaning he was often allowed to go with Eiji to places even when Next wasn't.

Unfortunately, Next was also very petty and definitely the jealous type, meaning he never took things like that very well. While he didn't usually play pranks on Eiji, more than once did the young teenager, after returning from one of many Next not allowed events, try to turn on his computer, only to find himself locked out and unable to get in.

…Did Eiji mention that Next and Special both had special abilities? Next had the ability to manipulate technology while Special had the ability to make copies of other objects. While both abilities were of limited capacity, Next's ability was more than powerful enough to make life hell for just about anyone he wanted to.

Special didn't use his ability all that often, Eiji could only imagine what trouble he would get into if he was a prankster just like Next, but the teenager did see him playing with it every once in a while. While it was usually just things like pencils and cups, he occasional copied…other things…such as people.

While he only saw it once, Eiji would never forget the time that he walked into his room one day and saw a copy of himself staring right back at him. The moment was only made worse by the fact that it was the middle of the night, the rest of the house was dark, and the light were off when he entered. It was a good thing that he was home alone at the time, because he was positive that his scream echoed through the entire house.

Despite all the weird things that came with having Shift Cars as his best friends, Eiji wouldn't trade them for the world. While Eiji did have human friends, none of them could compare to Next or Special. Think back though, did he ever tell his parents about Next and Special's abilities? Probably not…but Eiji wasn't worried. He was sure it'll come up…eventually.

 **Author's Note: I want to write more stories like this, exploring the lives of the children of main characters or characters who come from the future to assist, and be assisted, by the characters of the story before returning home. Since most of my ships are slash pairings though, I'll probably stick to character who come from the future to the present.**

 **I think I'll write more stories staring Eiji in the future as well. Just imagine what kind adventures he and his Shift Car buddies could get involved in? I wanted to write more here but, for one reason and another, what I want to say just isn't translating so I'll just end it here. Hope you enjoyed the story!**

 **P.S. Aren't the Shift Cars awesome?**


End file.
